Thursday, July 17, 2008

CJ Article about St. Marks

I'm back from vacation. My first day in the office is today and yesterday St. Marks had a wonderful article about what we are doing. Dale Moss did a great job with this:

Mission accomplished at St. Marks church

Members are tops at hands-on help



Send little things, like books and videos and candy and gum. That's what a member of St. Marks United Church of Christ, who was stationed in Iraq, asked of his congregation.

The New Albany church shipped nine boxes, for starters.

It shipped more than plenty, St. Marks was told. Spread the care, and that it did. It rerouted a second batch to flood victims.

This old church, at 222 E. Spring St., makes the most of a relatively new inspiration. St. Marks pushes its missionary spirit increasingly beyond the norm, and then beyond the beyond. It helps with food, with clothing, with manpower to build and fix homes. It provides both at holidays and routinely, and many thousands of people are in its debt.

"I find myself 10 times more energized -- that what I do matters," member Donna Garrison said.

The majority pitches in, in some way, so the church ambitiously follows God's charge.

"This congregation seems to have a passion for hands on," said David Riekhof, its president. "It's not just sending money."

St. Marks stands out by reaching out. From its Indiana-Kentucky denomination office, the church recently received the Barnabas Award for extraordinary local service. Only when member Alan Mason started in on the application did he realize fully the size of his church's heart.

"We had never put it together," Mason said. "It was just what we did."

St. Marks could corral more of a "market share" in suburbia. Established in 1837, St. Marks stays downtown in part because many of those in need are there.

"It does matter where we are, when it comes to opportunities for mission." Garrison said.

Associate pastor Lori Lewis recalls St. Marks deciding to make local missions more of a priority. "It came to life after that," she said.

Lewis guesses members will do more, realizing the impact that is possible.

"We're definitely not tapped out at this point," Lewis said. "I can see the list longer, with cautions."

St. Marks sponsors a weekly free lunch on Saturdays and twice-a-week clothes giveaways. Members pitch in on community Repair Affair projects and they helped Habitat for Humanity in Floyd County get going. Food baskets are distributed for Thanksgiving and toys at Christmas time.

These are only key examples of a daily, commonplace determination. Plus, St. Marks continues to come up with resources for far-flung mission work.

Being downtown, being a mostly traditional, mainline faith, the church indeed pays with fewer people regularly in the pews (200) and on the rolls (500). There is never too much money and always the potential of still more losses to the mega churches. Then again, Francesca Kemper chose St. Marks so she wouldn't be lost in a crowd. She feels at home, appreciates the church's love of music and admires its melting-pot diversity.

"I love the fact that everybody is OK, that there may be people in the room who don't feel the same way you do," Kemper said. "I've heard it called 'a thinking person's church.' "

Mason is proud that the membership of St. Marks resembles the real world. "We're not like most churches," he said. "We're not homogeneous and we don't try to fix people."

At St. Marks, women are a vital part of leadership. A worship service will not remind anyone of a Vegas act, yet the music especially leans occasionally toward the contemporary. Members discuss and vote on significant moves and expenditures. If a venture fails -- like having a Saturday evening service did -- another will be tried.

"Change is not a scary thing," Lewis said.

Just do not count on St. Marks changing locations or its commitment to care.

Dale Moss' column appears on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Reach him at (812) 949-4026 or dmoss@courier-journal.com. Comment on this column, and read his blog and previous columns, at www.courier-journal.com/moss.

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